


To Live Is To Die

by orphan_account



Series: All Written by Same Author [29]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ...before he becomes a serial killer, Does this count as canon-compliant? hahaja, Don't Repost Onto Another Site, Edo Tensei, Edo Tensei Centric, Family Bonding, Gen, Hashirama and Madara would throw a fit if they knew, Human Sacrifice, Izuna acts like a brat but he really just wants his brother, Not Really Character Death, Not really sure why i wrote this..., Past Character Death, Please dont kill other people for science (cough trauma cough) like tobirama, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug, The Tobirama & Izuna comes off as kinda romantic but that wasn't my intention, Tobirama has very poor ethics, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Yo im kinda iffy in the characterizations but this was an itch i needed to scratch, accidental philosophy??, but i kinda like it?, don't copy onto another site, feel free to ship tho, for edo tensei, izuna's natural state of being is existential crisis, we'll see, we'll see...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26115436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Who's there? Tell me!" He's slipping up, panicking.It's probably the reason he died.
Relationships: Senju Hashirama & Senju Tobirama, Senju Kawarama & Senju Tobirama, Senju Kawarama & Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna, Senju Kawarama & Uchiha Izuna, Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Izuna, Uchiha Izuna & Uchiha Madara
Series: All Written by Same Author [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032297
Comments: 6
Kudos: 63





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> whats this? _more_ naruto? you betta belieb it, babes

"Who's there? Tell me!" He's slipping up, panicking. 

It's probably the reason he died. 

It's not his fault. He was killed by an explosion just after noticing an oncoming ambush. He's just a child, little Kawarama, only seven years old. Of course it's not his fault.

Tobirama notes that the senses seem to come back slowly this time, if Kawarama can't recognize him yet. Or perhaps the immediate memories that predated one's death come back first. He's only practiced this jutsu on his assassination victims before, and all their deaths had been relatively peaceful, after all. 

Maybe he'll be able to soothe the memories the next time he tries.

"Kawarama." Tobirama's never been very good at comforting others, and it's been so long since he last spoke to Kawarama. How to do this… "You're not in any danger." 

Kawarama slows his frantic searching, though he still inhales harshly, breathing air he no longer needs. 

"...Chichiue?" He asks quietly, eyes still unseeing.

Tobirama swallows a sour feeling back. He doesn't like being compared to their father. He's beginning to have regrets. How will he explain this to Kawarama? He's so young… He wouldn't understand, wouldn't understand that he's dead, wouldn't understand why Tobirama _needs_ this. Of all the times to act thoughtlessly… 

No, Kawarama wouldn't understand at all. It's not his fault—children are meant to be idealistic, are meant to have an inherent _goodness_ about them. He's not _supposed_ to understand Tobirama. Yes, why didn't he see that earlier… 

Stupid, stupid. He becomes more and more envious of Izuna's ability to constantly think of consequences by the day. But Tobirama ruined that, too, didn't he? Typical. 

Kawarama continues looking at the ceiling, as if he's expecting to be attacked. Kawarama had always been level-headed and focused from what Tobirama can remember, a diligent, ask-no-questions son. Father's pride—his most obedient child. No, his _shinobi_. They were only ever children to each other.

_Oh, how I failed you…_

Tobirama can't let Kawarama know him like this. He's too young, Tobirama doesn't want him to understand. Doesn't want to know if he could. If he was touched by the vile, corrupt tendrils of war… He doesn't want Kawarama to know him as anything other than his second oldest brother, a child like him.

Perhaps he can give Kawarama a pleasant impression of their father…?

Tobirama places a hand on Kawarama's shoulder. It looks so large against his small frame.

"Yes, it's me, Kawarama. You're doing very well, keep looking up. You never know what's lurking, after all…"

Kawarama relaxes in Tobirama's grip. Kawarama can't see _anything_ , he realizes. The explosion… he must've been blinded just before death. 

"Okay, Chichiue."

Tobirama grimaces.

"Kawarama, you're not in danger."

"Yes, you told me."

"...But you're dying. You…" Some part of him must surely recognize– "You know that, don't you?"

Kawarama frowns. His lips part in confusion.

"Y-yes. I do… I'm. I... I know that."

Tobirama grips his shoulder tighter. He brought Kawarama back for a reason, and letting go for a second time is so, _so_ hard.

"You– you fought well, Kawarama. My shinobi, my– my son. Your brothers… don't worry about them. They can learn to be strong like you. Itama. Itama will be alright."

Kawarama nods tightly. He's still looking up, just as Tobirama asked.

"I hope they can be braver than me…"

"You've done well. Don't have regrets."

"...Okay. " Kawarama's voice is smaller than he's ever heard it. More broken. "I… I'll tell Hahaue hello for everyone. Yes, I'll do that…"

Tobirama can't help but sink to his knees and hug Kawarama, his tears soaking Kawarama's hair.

"Chichiue?" 

"I'm so proud of you…" Tobirama whispers, kissing Kawarama's forehead. He needs to release the jutsu, now. 

Kawarama frowns. "Chichiue? You're not…" 

Tobirama begins to hiccup.

"I loved you, I loved you. I loved you so much–" 

Kawarama shoves at him uselessly. 

"You're not Chichiue! Who are you? Tell me!"

"No, no, Kawarama, it's _me,_ _please_ –" 

"...Tobi–?" 

No! No, he can't _know._

  
  


Delicate strips of paper flutter around him, falling though his fingers. He holds what he can, presses them to his face to dry his tears. Stupid, stupid, getting all emotional like this…

"I wish I were braver, too…"

Brave enough to live on without clinging to corpses, to find beauty in more than the past. But Tobirama is a realist. He'll never be that brave.

If only he could collaborate with someone. If only– Oh. Tobirama has _his_ hair, doesn't he?

Wishes are surely for children, but ambitions...


	2. Chapter 2

"The body is a temporary thing." Tobirama tries to explain.

Izuna grins wickedly and leans forward to whisper in his ear.

"So is the mind."

Tobirama stills.

"Oh, you wouldn't think so, would you? Your intellect is your pride and joy… But the brain is only a part of the body, isn't it?"

"Of course. But it controls the body. It… The mind is more than the brain."

"No, the _spirit_ is, dummy. The body is temporary and so is the mind, just tools to translate this physical realm to the spirit. The spirit doesn't _think_. It doesn't taste or touch or hear or smell or see. There is none of that in death."

"If it doesn't think, it can't remember. How would you know that about death if your spirit can't think?" 

Izuna smiles, the cracks of his face elongating. Tobirama wishes he could give him a more life-like appearance. 

"I don't!" Izuna says gleefully. "I can't remember a thing about being dead. Which makes me wonder… am I even really here?"

"Of course you are. I brought you back."

"Oh yes, I'm your troubleshooter for this new jutsu, nearly forgot." Izuna says sarcastically, and if he had died with eyes in his head, Tobirama knows Izuna would be rolling them. "But you were just telling me how this works. You need DNA to replicate the body and a human sacrifice to appease the Shinigami. Technically, as long as this jutsu lasts, the sacrifice is still alive, you told me."

"...Yes, technically. It's part of the contract with the Shinigami." 

Izuna laughs, not moving from his place in Tobirama's lap. Such a child.

"How are they alive, without their brain and body? It must be the soul... Perhaps their spirit is here instead of mine as well, hmm?"

"Don't you believe that the soul and spirit are one?"

"...Not really, but I may just be splitting hairs. My sis– ... _I_ believe that the body dies and rots away. The soul is taken to the afterlife. The spirit lives on in this world through the things we've done and loved, the people we've affected, through the legacies we've enacted."

Izuna turns his body to face the high window, where little light filters through—it's overcast, today. Izuna always seems to know that, even without sight.

"Kaa-chan loved the rain, you know? Storms especially. I figure her spirit helps out, here and there." He says quietly. There's no reason for a dead man to keep secrets. 

Tobirama thinks Izuna looks melancholic. Unsatisfied. He really does believe that he isn't here, doesn't he? 

"Explain. Why don't you think your spirit is here, if that's such a large part of your identity?"

Izuna laughs again, except it rings like little bells and windchimes this time. He's genuinely delighted.

The sound is lovely, but Tobirama finds that he doesn't appreciate it.

"Explain? What's there to explain? You've been had, Tobirama. Did you think the Shinigami would not take advantage of a deal? That Izanami-no-kami would allow her subjects to be brought back at your whim?"

Tobirama opens his mouth. He'd like to disprove Izuna, but he doesn't have enough data. That's what this whole thought exercise is about, but he's even more unsure about his jutsu than before. He closes his mouth.

Tobirama is not so arrogant to assume that he outwitted the Shinigami. Izuna… could be right. Izuna _could_ really not be here.

But what is the _truth_?

"...I'm Buddhist."

"And I'm the dead one, dear." Izuna pats his chin comfortingly.

Tobirama scowls.

"But you don't remember anything about being dead, so we're equal. You're not converting me."

"Really? I think you'd prosper, praying when you use hand seals… I always prayed to Hinokagutsuchi-no-kami for my fire jutsus, you know." Izuna sighs dramatically. "Using my opposite chakra affinity was _hard_ before I started."

"Placebo." Tobirama counters.

"Rude!" Izuna squawks. "I couldn't perform the Great Fireball for the longest time, even _with_ the Sharingan."

"Late bloomer." Tobirama teases. He doesn't particularly care which one of their beliefs are correct.

"Anyways, I became a proper pyromaniac, as you know." Izuna harrumphs finally. 

Tobirama lets him get the last word in. There's something else he's thought of.

"...How does chakra fit in, to you?"

"Hmm? It's… the convergence, I guess. A manifestation of the combined body, soul, and spirit."

Perhaps he _can_ disprove Izuna.

"There's two parts, as I'm sure you're aware. The Yin and the Yang. Yang comes from the body. Yin comes from the mind, which I've always thought of as an extension of the brain. But you don't agree, do you? You consider the spirit to be what I consider the mind."

"...Yes. Yes, I suppose I do."

"But we agree that my sacrifice's soul still resides here, yes?" Tobirama confirms, fingers trailing down Izuna's back to the point that holds the seal.

Izuna nods.

"Then perhaps this soul is hosting your spirit. If you believe your spirit remains in this world, then the Shinigami and your Izanami would have no claim to it, yes? Because I know you're here, I can sense it. I know your chakra. You're real, Izuna." 

"...Oh." Izuna bites his lip. "Oh, you big sap. Logicking me into existence—only you." He lets out a sudden snort. "Only you, Tobirama. Thank you." 

"You're still dead. You're dead but real."

"Yes, Tobirama, I got that. I don't care about being dead, you're ruining our _bonding moment_."

Tobirama stands up, letting Izuna fall off his lap and onto the floor, taking great amusement from Izuna's resounding squawk.

"What bonding moment? No, no, I was just leaving. Only wanted to pick your brain, nothing more."

Izuna laughs from the floor, again sounding like ringing bells and windchimes. Tobirama wonders if Izuna loves those things, like how his mother loved rain and storms. 

"...Hey, Tobirama, could you let me stay this time? Wouldn't… wouldn't want you to become a suspected serial killer, haha…" 

  
  


Tobirama indulges him, though he regrets it later. He can hardly sleep as Izuna loudly sobs and cries hysterically for his brother from the room over. 

Oh, to be real...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...then again, neither of them know that chakra is APPARENTLY an invasive species from outer space :} 


	3. Interlude

"He'd be your age. I… only have a few pieces of him, so I'd really like to perfect this jutsu before trying with him again. I don't… I still don't know if I want to, to be honest."

Izuna hums but otherwise remains unmoving, his expression blank and numb. Tobirama had thought for a moment that this was a side effect of his jutsu, but he's seen Madara do the same thing a few times. Tobirama can't imagine missing Hashirama so much that just… shutting down would seem better than facing the turmoil left in his absence.

Not that he can really judge—he's using human sacrifices to bring back the dead, after all.

"But I've thought about it. Itama was older when he died. He would definitely understand. And I don't want him to. So if I'm perfecting this jutsu for anyone, it'd be for Kawarama. He was pretty mature, but I've always been his older brother. I'm an adult now, and Chichiue's dead… He. He might understand. But he'd _listen_. He'd listen to me."

"...Love you, you mean. He'd love you."

Tobirama is surprised that Izuna responded, but he won't comment on it.

"...You're right. He might understand, but he could still love me, despite that. We could–" Tobirama stops short. "...And he wouldn't ask as many questions as you."

"You told me to." Izuna weakly quips back, delivery unintentionally dry.

"Would you… Would you talk to him, if I do summon him again? You– you're so much better with words than me."

Izuna's face is slowly regaining emotion.

"Oh? Ha… I used to have a speech impediment, you know. My cousin… helped me with it." Izuna raises a hand to wave it passively. "Much better with words than me."

"Hikaku?"

"No, no… He… a different cousin. I killed him."

"Ah. A traitor?"

Izuna hums. "That was the story…" 

"...You're not going to elaborate, are you?" 

Izuna shakes his head.

"Don't wanna."

"Right. Would you talk to him, though?"

"...You know what? Sure. What can he do, kill me?"

Tobirama almost smiles.

"He's blind like you, but he still has his eyes. I wonder…"

"You can probably modify the body. Mada– Nii-san... um, he was pretty into science and Hikaku totally had a hard on for fuinjutsu—I was their sounding board. Unfortunately. I might even be able to help."

"...Would you like your sight back? It'd be more difficult, but–"

"No." Izuna says quickly. "No, that's alright. I'd rather stay here. I was never that good at reading anyways. I'm not missing much else—other than your ugly mug, for which I can only be grateful."

"Don't be rude. Kawarama doesn't need to learn any of that."

Izuna sticks his tongue out. Tobirama does the gross thing and pinches it.


	4. Chapter 4

"...I'm dead, aren't I?"

"Yeah. Happens to the best of us, kiddo."

"You're like me? Your skin is cracked, too."

Izuna lifts an arm as if to inspect it. Kid should have figured out that Izuna's blind, what with the cloth around his eyes.

"Wow, you're right! I can totally see it!"

"...Oh. Don't have to be rude. But you are, right? You're even wearing funeral garbs..."

Izuna hums. He put them on himself, just before he died. The whole dressing process was sort of morbid, but he figures not many people have experienced it. Felt a bit like a prize, to be honest.

"Yes, yes. We're both dead. So there's no point in trying to kill me, okay, Kawarama?" Izuna wags his finger.

"...How do you know my name? Y-you don't look Senju…"

"Oh! Don't be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you. Frankly, there'd be no point. You know, being dead and all."

"Oh. R-right. That… surprisingly helps. So. Who are you?"

"My name is Izuna. We were born in the same year, you know? Funny how things work out… Anyways, I need to ask you some things, all right? Asking for… a friend? Our summoner. A graverobber. He won't hurt you, though."

"…" 

"Right. Well, do you remember the first time you were summoned?"

"...Yes. Yes, I do. I couldn't… see."

"Mn. We fixed that for you. Do you know who summoned you?"

"I– I thought I was with Chichiue, at first, but. Then I thought… No. No, it couldn't have been…"

"Tobirama? Your older brother? Yes, Kawarama, it was him. He's all grown up, now. He, uh, hadn't foreseen what would happen when he summoned you… So he tried to at least give you a peaceful passing."

"Tobirama? Why would he– Oh, no. We lost to the Uchiha, didn't we? Everyone. Everyone… died."

"Ahh! No! The Senju are alive, there's even peace!"

"...Really?" Kawarama's voice takes an appropriately childish pitch. His excitement is cute. "So we– so we won? We killed all the Uchiha? That's… that's great!"

Izuna wonders if he ever made other people feel this strange when he was that age, proclaiming his desire to eradicate the Senju. _“Karma.”_ Tobirama would tease. 

"No. And here I thought we were getting along… But, no. The Uchiha and the Senju are both very much alive. They've made an alliance, created a village and all, just like your brother Hashirama wanted."

"That fool? Seriously? I didn't think it was possible…"

"You and me both. I still have doubts, really."

"Wait. Are you? Are you an _Uchiha_?"

"Yeah. Tobirama killed me, but no hard feelings. Please don't try to attack me. Literally nothing will come of it."

"…"

"Okaaay. Do you want to meet your brother? He's probably fiddling with his thumbs like a nervous kid by now."

"...Only if you walk in front of me."

"Fair enough, I guess."

  
  


Kawarama walks in, looking much the same as Tobirama saw him last, still wearing his armor. He'll have to get him some casual clothes. Izuna, too, now that he thinks of it. Enough stalling. If Izuna brought Kawarama to the study, then he supposes it must have gone well. Really, there's no reason to be so nervous.

Kawarama catches sight of him and gapes lightly. Izuna retreats to lean on the door frame, letting them have their moment.

"...What's with the facial tattoos, Anija?"

Tobirama touches his cheek lightly. Right. He'd forgotten that Kawarama wouldn't recognize some of his features.

"Do you not like them?"

Kawarama's face scrunches into an expression that Tobirama can—surprisingly—quickly categorize as, _this is so awkward._ Tobirama can feel his own face begin to mirror Kawarama's. 

This is, undeniably, _awkward._

Izuna sighs from the door. 

"Hug already, would you? Or cry, that's good, too. Or talk. Or punch each other, I'm not picky."

Kawarama turns his head and glares at Izuna, something that Tobirama can't help but find adorable. Oh, his cute baby brother…

"Anija, why do you keep an _Uchiha_ like _him_ around? He's so rude!" Kawarama says exasperatedly, to which Izuna huffs in offense.

"What did I say, Izuna? He doesn't need to learn any of that from you."

Izuna throws his hands up, always willing to be dramatic. _Anything to keep up the show..._

"I get no respect in this house, I swear! Go on, keep staring in silence, see if I care. Senju are _so_ unproductive." He does actually leave the room, but Tobirama suspects it's to give them more privacy. How thoughtful.

Kawarama nods at Izuna's exit. "Good riddance." He mutters.

Silence descends once more. Tobirama starts rolling an ink brush around on his table to avoid starting a conversation. What was he thinking, summoning Kawarama again? Selfish, selfish.

"...So, uh, how d'ya know that guy?" 

"...Here and there. He was my counterpart on the battlefield, most often."

"How come you're so... familiar, then?" Kawarama raises his eyebrows, having never quite managed to raise only one.

"Well. We ran into each other in missions a lot. Foreign ones, mostly, when clients wouldn't know to not hire both Uchiha and Senju. We… cooperated." 

Tobirama had refused to wear anything Uchiha, once, when Izuna silently left a cloak for him as they approached a colder climate. Izuna took great joy in leaving his stray hairs all over Tobirama's clothes from then on. 

Unwilling to wear anything Uchiha is a very different thing from unwilling to _keep_ it. It did have its uses later on, huh?

"Why didn't you just kill him?"

Tobirama frowns. Kawarama didn't usually ask so many questions, but, then again, this hardly counts as 'usual', does it?

"...He was your age." Tobirama says obviously. "I couldn't– He was stronger than me, anyways. I don't know why he didn't just kill me, either."

Kawarama frowns and opens his mouth. He closes it after a moment.

"Well, you killed him in the end, so. I guess it's okay."

Tobirama winces.

"I do wonder, sometimes… Did he tell you about the peace?"

Kawarama nods.

"Izuna was the current Uchiha Clan Head's younger brother. He– they were very close. I know we're all taught that the Uchiha are emotionless and that we are the clan of love, but… I've never seen a relationship like theirs outside of the Uchiha Clan. If. If Izuna ever just– _stops_ _,_ just freezes up, he's. He's just missing his brother. Madara… I worry about what he's going to do, because—ah, that's the Uchiha Clan Head, by the way—he can be quite… volatile. So sometimes, I do wonder if it was okay."

Tobirama takes a moment to reevaluate himself. What is he doing, dumping this on a seven-year-old? Is his self-control really slipping so much, or is Kawarama just easy to talk to? Tobirama hasn't even offered for him to sit!

"Wait… Did you kill Izuna _after_ the ceasefire?"

"No."

"...Then it's okay. Really." Kawarama slowly reaches for Tobirama's hand and pats it lightly. "You were doing your duty. If this Madara guy can't deal with death, that's his own fault. Everyone dies eventually."

Tobirama smiles softly, taking Kawarama's hand in his own, and strokes his knuckles with his thumb. _My own fault._

"...Yes. Everyone." Tobirama takes a deep breath. "You are so precious, you know?" He says quietly. "I don't think I ever told you when you were alive. I love you."

Kawarama smiles back sadly, wise beyond his years.

"Tobirama," he asks, equally quiet, "why am I here?"

Tobirama shakes his head, no longer able to look Kawarama in the eyes. Honesty, Izuna had suggested.

"...It's horrible that I'm glad you died young, isn't it? You didn't have to see the entirety of the war…" Tobirama sighs. He's probably being _too_ honest, but he can't stop now. "I have so many regrets. But I– I miss it." He says shamefully. "I… I need that era back. I don't know how to live without it. And I figured– I figured I'd bring back a piece of it that was good… My baby brother." 

Kawarama looks keen, like he's eager to understand but can't quite get it. _He's so young,_ Tobirama thinks fondly. Too young to even think to forget his love for his older brother and see Tobirama for what he really is.

"...I love you, too." Kawarama finally says. "And I forgive you. Okay? I forgive you."

_You don't know what you're forgiving me of, but thank you. Thank you, thank you._

Tobirama can feel his eyes begin to gloss over, and he's torn between blinking them back or letting the tears fall. Emotions are _exhausting_. 

"...Do you want to stay? I won't be home all the time, but Izuna's not so bad, once you get used to him." Tobirama asks, trying to keep the, _I'll make you stay,_ out of his voice. Izuna told him to at least _try_ to give Kawarama options. 

Kawarama searches his face deeply for a few moments, making Tobirama's skin crawl. 

Finally, Kawarama says, "Maybe for a while. I– I'll try to get along with Izuna. For you."

Tobirama slowly stands and brings Kawarama into a hug, kissing his hair lightly. "Thank you."

Why is he so afraid of loving people until it's too late? Why does he need to make such an extreme jutsu to get them back? Why couldn't he ever just treasure them when they were alive? Jealousy sparks through him. What do Madara and Izuna have that he and Hashirama can't?

_I wish I were braver… I wish I would try._

  
  


He does try to tell Hashirama that he loves him. He tries many, many times. Just out of the blue, like it's an ordinary thing to say. It never works.

He resigns himself to never being able to say it. But one day, Hashirama is bemoaning his paperwork as usual, except he gets this determined little look and tries to work through it. The urge to tell Hashirama that he loves him comes out of nowhere, and it suddenly seems like an easy thing to say. He _can_ say it.

But he doesn't. He doesn't, because Madara is laughing at Hashirama's expense, and Hashirama looks at Madara with something more than he's ever looked at Tobirama with.

Tobirama doesn't say it because a vindictive, spiteful part of him thinks that Hashirama doesn't deserve it. _**He's** never told **me** that he loves me. ~~Aren't **I** his baby brother? ~~ _

And maybe that's what it's been all along. Thinking back on his upbringing, he didn't hear it very often. Saying _'I love you'_ was never something he learned to do. _It shouldn't have to be something you **learn** , stupid, _ Tobirama demeans himself uselessly.

His family always told themselves that they're the clan of love as if to avoid telling each other directly. 

...And it seems Tobirama's found a taboo he's unwilling to break.

  
  


Hashirama tells him he should get married. Coming home to your own family is so nice after a long day, and Tobirama is always working, isn't he? Tobirama tells him that he's really fine and to please not try to set him up with anyone. Touka gives him a knowing look, thinking he's like her. She'd appreciate the wife Hashirama seems to think Tobirama needs.

But Tobirama is… content with his home. It's an odd feeling, something he never thought he'd experience. Kawarama and Izuna are waiting for him at the house, always working on some project or another, though they're never particularly artful. Kawarama can brighten a room with his childish _goodness_ _,_ and Izuna is more than willing to let him. He'd never thought Izuna would have a soft spot for children, but Izuna's told him of his other siblings before. His sister, most quietly.

Of course, Izuna was the youngest, but Tobirama suspects a part of Izuna never grew up without them. He makes surprisingly good company for Kawarama.

So Tobirama gives Touka a small smile, wishing her the best. He takes his leave soon after, walking along the scenic route to his house.

Kawarama and Izuna are constructing a garden together in his backyard when he returns home. Izuna generally likes to keep busy, distracting himself from whatever crisis he's having at the moment. Kawarama was always a pretty active kid, and Tobirama thinks he's warmed up to Izuna. Perhaps if they were both alive it'd be a different story, but they seem to have a solidarity in death and need for movement.

Tobirama is glad he lives in such a secluded place, away from Hashirama and the village proper. He's glad he can give them this. 

"Tadaima." He whispers softly.

He's glad he's able to say it.

**Author's Note:**

> love how ‘jutsu’ autocorrected to ‘musty’ for almost the whole writing process ❤


End file.
